The Sawai language (also Weda) is a South Halmahera language of the Austronesian language family spoken in the Weda and Gane Timor districts of southern Halmahera, northern Maluku Province, Indonesia. There are approximately 12,000 speakers.
| Sawai | |
|---|---|
| Weda | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | North Maluku province |
Native speakers | 12,000 (2000)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | szw |
| Glottolog | sawa1247 |
Sounds
editBelow is a description of the Kobe dialect of Sawai spoken in the villages of Lelilef Woyebulan and Kobe Peplis, as well as from Whistler (1995).
Consonants
editSawai has 15 consonants:
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p b | t d | k ɡ | |
| Fricative | f | s | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |
| Semivowel | w | j | ||
| Liquid | l ɾ |
Vowels
editSawai has eight vowels:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| High-Mid | e | ə | o |
| Low-Mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Low | a |
Syllable
editSawai has the following syllable structure:
- (C)(C)V(C)
Examples:
| word | gloss | syllable type |
|---|---|---|
| /i/ | 's/he/it' | V |
| /in/ | 'fish' | VC |
| /wo/ | 'alcoholic drink' | CV |
| /npo/ | 's/he/it gives' | CCV |
| /kot/ | 'magic statue' | CVC |
| /nfan/ | 's/he/it goes' | CCVC |
References
edit- ^ Sawai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Bibliography
edit- Burquest, Donald A.; & Laidig, Wyn D. (Eds.). (1992). Phonological studies in four languages of Maluku. The Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington publications in linguistics (No. 108). Dallas: The Summer Institute of Linguistics, The University of Texas at Arlington, and Pattimura University. ISBN 0-88312-803-9.
- Whistler, Ronald. (1992). Phonology of Sawai. In D. A. Burquest & W. D. Laidig (Eds.), Phonological studies in four languages of Maluku (pp. 7–32). Dallas: The Summer Institute of Linguistics, The University of Texas at Arlington, and Pattimura University.
- Whistler, Ronald; & Whistler, Jacqui. (1995). Sawai: Introduction and wordlist. In D. T. Tryon (Ed.), Comparative Austronesian dictionary: An introduction to Austronesian studies (part 1: fascicle 1, pp. 659–65). Trends in linguistics, Documentation (No. 10). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.